Somehow, This DIY License Plate Failed to Fool the Cops

By: · November 15, 2017

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In the olden days of motoring, automotive registration numbers were assigned by states, but owners were left to their own devices as to how to display them on vehicles, leading to a nonstandard hodgepodge of license plates. By the 1920s, the free-for-all had become homogenized with state-issued plates, forerunners of the six-by-12-inch units we affix to our cars today. But sometimes plates get stolen. Or lost in the mail. Or, perhaps, DMV-related PTSD just won’t let a driver step into the office to acquire a new set. What to do then? One enterprising Boston-area resident seemed to have come up with a dandy solution, handcrafting a license plate using nothing more than a cut-up pizza box and some markers.

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Police in the burg of Hopkinton, Massachusetts, weren’t so pleased with the motorist’s initiative, citing the driver of this Buick Century and posting the following to Facebook:

We like the loopy flourish on the number 2s as well as the obvious care paid to the rendering of the 7. The off-center “MASS” gives it a bit of Land Rover Discovery–style asymmetrical charm, and expunging nine letters from the state’s name seems to be a worthwhile exercise in economy, adding to the plate’s minimalist, upcycled statement. Unfortunately, a series of numbers and letters scrawled on a piece of cardboard is not an acceptable substitute for a state-issued plate in Massachusetts.